And in the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away unto Assyria and put them in Halah, in Habor on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

And the king of Assiria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:

So at Ecbatana, in a castle that lieth in the land of the Medes, there was found a book, and in it was there an act written after this manner:

and the next unto him were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of the Persians and Medes, which saw the king's face, and sat above in the kingdom.

For lo, I shall bring up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver, nor be desirous of gold.

Then shall young men's bows be knapped asunder. The Medes shall have no pity upon women with child, and their faces shall not spare the children.

all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, all the kings of the Medes;

Make sharp the arrows, and fill the quivers: for the LORD shall raise up the spirit of the king of the Medes, which hath already a desire to destroy Babylon. This shall be the vengeance of the LORD's, and the vengeance of his temple.

Prepare against them the people of the Medes with their kings, princes and all their chief rulers; yea, and the whole land that is under them.

Phares, thy kingdom is dealt in parts, and given to the Medes and Persians."

Wherefore, O king, confirm thou this statute, and make a writing: that the thing which the Medes and Persians have ordained be not altered nor broken."

So they came to the king, and spake before him concerning his commandment, saying, "O king, hast thou not subscribed the statute, that within thirty days whoso requireth his petition of any god or man, but only of thyself, O king, he shall be cast into the den of the lions?" The king answered, and said, "It is true. It must be as a law of the Medes and Persians, that may not be broken."

These men, perceiving the king's mind, said unto him, "Know this, O king: that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that the commandment and statute which the king maketh, may not be altered."

The ram which thou sawest with the two horns, is the king of the Medes and Persians:

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, which was of the seed of the Medes, and was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans:

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites and the inhabiters of Mesopotamia, of Jewry and of Cappadocia, of Pontus and of Asia;